Pile driving apparatus



March 9, 1965 R. KIRBY PILE DRIVING APPARATUS Filed May 20. 1963 2SheetsSheet 1 i J] u W n INVENTOIZ RALPH KIRBY a6. RTTDRNEY; I

March 9, 1965 R. KIRBY PILE DRIVING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May20, 1965 INVENTOR RALPH KIRBY BY J m-mensy;

United States Patent 3,172,484 FILE DRIVENG APPARATUS Ralph Kirby,Milnes Landing, British Columbia, Qanada Filed May 20, 1963, Ser. No.281,480 Claims priority, application Canada, May 3t), 1962, 850,341/ 6213 Claims. (Cl. 173-43) The present invention relates to an improvedpile driving apparatus.

With pile drivers of the prior art, where it has been required to drivea number of piles at different angles and/ or at different distancesfrom the frame of the pile driver, this has necessitated frequent shiftsin the position of the frame, and the need for shifts in positioning ofthe apparatus has slowed the pile driving work. Furthermore, the priorart machines could not drive piles at an angle to the vertical withoutspecial attachments and special operating techniques which werecumbersome, not accurate and very time consuming.

I have now found that the work of driving a number of piles in a givenarea can be greatly speeded and facilitated through the provision of anovel pile driving apparatus wherein the guides in which the piledriving hammer runs may be raised or lowered upon the supporting frame,may be angularly adjusted vertically relative to the vertical members ofthe frame, and may be caused to swing through. an arcuate path in frontof the frame. Not only can this apparatus be used to drive vertical orinclined piles in front of or to either side of the machine, but it maybe used as a live boom crane, which is a distinct advantage around manytypes of construction in which piles are involved.

The pile driving apparatus of this invention may be generally defined ascomprising a vertical support, an upper mounting plate slidably mountedon said support, a lower mounting plate slidably mounted on the support,means for simultaneously raising and lowering said mounting plates andholding them at a desired level, an elongated hammer guide, a hammerslidably mounted on said guide, a first strut connecting the upper endsof said hammer guide to said upper mounting plate, said first strutbeing rotatable about a first vertical axis which is fixed relative tosaid upper mounting plate, a second strut connected at one of its endsto said lower mounting plate and at its other end to said hammer guideat a point intermediate the end thereof, and means for adjusting theangular relationship between said second strut and said guide, saidsecond stint being rotatable about a second vertical axis which is fixedrelative to said lower mounting plate.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one presently preferredembodiment of the invention,

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation,

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation,

FIGURE 3 is a cross section on an enlarged scale taken along the line 33in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a cross section on an enlarged scale taken along the line 44in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 5-5 ofFIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged cross section taken on the line 66 of FIGURE 5.

The illustrated embodiment has a frame generally indicated by referencenumeral 10 and made up of a base 11, uprights 12., and cross bars 13.The uprights include a vertical support in the form of two spacedvertical posts 14 and 15. An upper mounting plate 16 and a lowermounting plate 17 are slidably mounted between the support posts 14 andThe upper mounting plate 16 may be raised or lowered by means of a cable18 trained over a three way sheave l9 and Wound upon a drum 2i). A

$72,484 Fatented Mar. 9, 1965 second cable 21 serves to suspend thelower mounting plate 17 from the upper mounting plate 16, see FIGURE 5.For example, cable 21 may be fixedly connected to plate 16 and have asection of chain 22 connected to its lower end. When one of the links ofthe chain is fitted between jaWs 23 fixedly mounted on plate 17, thechain is connected to the latter plate. Suitable means may be providedreleasably to retain the chain link in jaws 23, or said chain may bewound around plate 17, as shown in FIGURE 5, in order to prevent thelink from accidentally coming out of the jaws. The effective length ofthe cable 21 can be adjusted by means of chain 22 and jaws 23 whereby toadjust the spacing between the upper and lower mounting plates. It willbe appreciated that once the setting of cable 21 has been made, theupper and lower plates will move as a unit with a fixed interval betweenthem Whenever drum 26 is rotated.

A hammer 26 is carried in conventional fashion by an elongated guide,which in this example consists of a pair of spaced parallel hammerguides 28 and 29, the spacing of the guides being maintained bytransverse members 32 and 33 located at the opposite ends of the guides.if desired, a transversely extending roller 34 may be mounted on theouter portion of member 32.

A bracket 36 extends horizontally from the upper mounting bracket is. Astub shaft 3 7 extends vertically downwardly from the plate 36 to whichit is fixed, and a second plate 39 is mounted so as to abut the plate 36and yet be rotatable with respect thereto, the plate 39 being rotatableabout the stub shaft 37. A strut 4t? is pivotally connected to the plate33 at 41, and the other end of strut at) is rigidly secured to thetransverse member 33 which connects the upper ends of the hammer guides28 and 2% to one another.

The lower mounting plate 17 is provided with a horizontal plate 45similar to the plate 36 attached to the upper mounting plate 16. Alsomounted upon the lower mounting plate 17, in this case by brackets as(see FIG- URE 4) is a motor 47 having a drive shaft 48, the drive shaftbeing vertically disposed and passing freely upward- 1y through theplate 4-5. A plate Sit is mounted in abutting relationship with theupper surface of the plate 45' and is rigidly connected to the driveshaft 48 so as to be rotatable With said shaft whenever the latter isrotated by means of the motor 47. A second strut 54 (see Fl"- URES 1 and4), is hingedly connected at its lower end to the plate 5% by means of apin The opposite end of the second strut 54 is pivotally connected bymeans of a pin 57 to a transverse member 53 which is fixedly mountedupon the two hammer guides 23 and 29.

Suitable means is provided for swinging hammer guides 28 and 29 inwardlyand outwardly relative to support posts 14 and 15. In this example, thelower end of a hydraulic jack 60 is pivotally connected, as indicated at61, to the transverse member 32 which interconnects the lower ends ofthe hammer guides 28 and 29. The outer end of piston rod 63 of thehydraulic jack 60 is pivotally connected, as indicated at 54, to thesecond strut 54 at a point intermediate its ends. By supplying hydraulicfluid from a pump 68 along the lines 69 and 70 to the hydraulic jack 60,the angular relationship of the hammer guide 28 and 29 to the Verticalmembers 14 and 15 may be adjusted. Thus, for example, retraction orextension of the piston rod 63 of the hydraulic jack 60 will cause thehammer guide to swing inwardly or outwardly respectively, to decrease orincrease the angularity of the hammer guide members 28 and 29 withrespect to the vertical support members 14 and 15. As the piston rodextends, mounting plate 17 slides up support members 14 and 15 and strut54 moves towards a horizontal position, thereby swinging guides 28 and2h outwardly. Cable 21 permits this movement of plate 17 in an upwarddirection, and it may be 'for this pile driver.

adjusted to a length to permit the guides to swing into a verticalposition when piston rod 63 is retracted, or the cable length may beadjusted to set a predetermined minimum angle to the guides onretraction of the piston rod.

The plate 39 carries a fairlead 74 which, as best seen in FIGURE 3, isprovided with three fairing guides 75. A cable 77 is wound on a drum 78and it is trained over sheave 19 and through two of the fairing guides75 and connected to the hammer 26. Another cable 80 is wound upon a drum81 and is passed over the sheave 19 and through two of the fairingguides 75, and its free end is attached to the top of the pile 83 whichis to be driven, as indicated at 84.

The apparatus of the invention would be used as follows in driving apile. By using the cable 80, the pile 83, connected at 84 to the cable80, is drawn between the hammer guides 28 and 29 so as to occupy theposition laying along the guides shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. The hammerguides are brought to the desired vertical position for initial drivingby raising or lowering of the mounting plates 16 and 17 by means of thecable 18. The desired angle for driving of the pile is obtained byoperation of the hydraulic jack 6% and/or the motor 47 to (a) adjust theangular relationship between the hammer guides 28 and 29 and thevertical members 14 and 15 and/or (b) to rotate the plates i) and 39carrying the struts 54 and 40, respectively, to induce rotation aboutthe vertical axes of the pin 37 and the drive shaft 48, whereby thehammer guides 28 and 29 may be swung in an arcuate path in front of theportion of the frame made up of the vertical members 14 and 15. Thus,the pile may be driven from a position in front of the apparatus or toeither side thereof.

When the pile 83 has thus been brought into the exactly desired positionfor driving, the cable 80 is slacked-otf the pile 83, and the pile isdriven in conventional manner through operation of the hammer 26 bymeans of the cable 77. If the pile is to be driven a substantialdistance it would be found advantageous to lower the mounting plates 16and 17, thereby lowering the hammer guide 23 and 29, as progress is madein the driving of the pile.

The apparatus specifically disclosed in the foregoing specification andthe accompanying drawings was disclosed by way of example only, andvarious modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. Thus, forexample, the cable 21 which is employed to adjust the distance belowmounting plate 16 of mounting plate 17 could be replaced by a hydraulicjack connected to one of the mounting plates and having a piston rodwhich is connected to the other mounting plate. Furthermore, thehydraulic jack 60 could be dispensed with altogether by adjusting theangular relationship of the guides to the vertical members 14 and simplyby relatively adjusting the distance between the two mounting plates.

This pile driver may be used as a live boom crane. In this case, cableis used to lift any load and, if necessary, draw it up on to guides 28and 29. The outer or lower ends of these guides are swung inwardly andoutwardly relative to support members 14 and 15 by means of jack 60, andlaterally from side to side by means of motor 47. Furthermore, guides 28and 29 are raised and lowered by cable 18, and the maximum reach ofthese guides is adjusted by shifting mounting plate 17 up or downrelative to mounting plate 16 through decreasing or increasing theeffective length of cable 21. Thus, guides 28 and 29 can reach out fromthe supports through a lateral arc of about 180. Cable 80 rides overroller 34 when it is used to lift or deposit a load.

This ability to function as a crane is a distinct advantage Pile driversare usually used where great loads, such as heavy timbers, have to bemoved about, as in the construction of docks. This pile drivereliminates the necessity of having a separate crane for this purpose orof having to shift heavy loads by hand.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. Pile driving apparatus comprising a vertical support, an uppermounting plate slidably mounted on said support, a lower mounting plateslidably mounted on the support, means carried by the support forsimultaneously raising and lowering said mounting plates and holdingthem at a desired level, an elongated hammer guide, a hammer slidablymounted on said guide, a first strut rotatably connecting the upper endof said hammer guide to said upper mounting plate, said first strutbeing rotatable about a first vertical axis which is fixed relative tosaid upper mounting plate, a second strut rotatably connected at one ofits ends to said lower mounting plate and connected at its other end tosaid hammer guide at a point intermediate the ends thereof, and meansconnected to the second strut for adjusting the angular relationshipbetween said second strut and said vertical support, said second strutbeing rotatable about a second vertical axis which is fixed relative tosaid lower mounting plate.

2. Pile driving apparatus as defined in claim 1 including meansconnected to said upper and lower mounting plates for adjusting thespacing between said plates.

3. Pile driving apparatus as defined in claim 1 including drive meansconnected to one of said struts for rotating said struts about saidvertical axes to swing the hammer guide therewith.

4. Pile driving apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said other endof said second strut is fixedly connected to said hammer guide, and inwhich said means for adjusting the angular relationship between saidsecond strut and said vertical support comprises a hydraulic jackpivotally connected to said second strut at a point intermediate theends thereof and pivotally connected to said hammer guide at a pointspaced below said second strut.

5. Pile driving apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said first andsecond vertical axes are coaxial.

6. Pile driving apparatus comprising a vertical sup port, an uppermounting plate slidably mounted on said support, a lower mounting plateslidably mounted on the support, means carried by the support forsimultaneously raising and lowering said mounting plates and holdingthem at a desired level, an elongated hammer guide, first means hingedlyconnecting an upper end ofsaid guide to the upper mounting plate forswinging movement towards and away from the support, second meanshingedly connecting the lower mounting plate to the hammer guideadjacent a lower end thereof, said second means being adapted to movethe hammer guide towards and away from the support, and means connectedto said second means for operating said second means selectively to movethe hammer guide towards and away from the support.

7. Pile driving apparatus as defined in claim 6 including a hammerslidably mounted on the hammer guide.

8. Pile driving apparatus as defined in claim 6 including meansconnected to the upper and lower mounting plates for adjusting thespacing between said plates.

9. Pile driving apparatus comprising a vertical support, an uppermounting plate slidably mounted on said support, a lower mounting plateslidably mounted on the support, means carried by the support forsimultaneously raising and lowering said mounting plates and holdingthem at a desired level, an elongated hammer guide, first means hingedlyand swingably connecting an upper end of said guide to the uppermounting plate for swinging movement towards and away from the supportand around a vertical axis, second means swingably and hingedlyconnecting the lower mounting plate to the hammer guide adjacent a lowerend thereof, said second means being adapted to move the hammer guidetowards and away from the support and around a vertical axis, meansconnected to said second means for operating said second meansselectively to move the hammer guide towards and away from the support,and additional means for operating said second means to swing the hammerguide around the two above-mentioned vertical axes.

10. Pile driving apparatus as defined in claim 9 including a hammerslidably mounted on the hammer guide.

11. Pile driving apparatus as defined in claim 9 including meansconnected to the upper and lower mounting plates for adjusting thespacing between said plates.

12. Pile driving apparatus comprising a support structure which includesa pair of spaced vertical posts, an upper mounting plate slidablymounted between said posts, a lower mounting plate slidably mountedbetween said posts, means carried by the support structure forsimultaneously raising and lowering said mounting plates and holdingthem at a desired level, a pair of spaced parallel hammer guides held inspaced relation to one another by a plurality of transverse members, ahammer slidably mounted in said hammer guides, a first strut rotatablyconnecting the upper ends of said hammer guides to said upper mountingplate, said first strut being rotatable about a first vertical axiswhich is fixed relative to said upper mounting plate, a second strutrotatably connected at one of its ends to said lower mounting plate andconnected at its other end to said hammer guides at points intermediatetheir ends, and means connected to the second strut for adjusting theangular relationship between said second strut and said vertical posts,said second strut being rotatable about a second vertical axis which isfixed relative to said lower mounting plate.

13. Pile driving apparatus as defined in claim 12 including meanscarried by the supporting structure for drawing a pile on to the hammerguides beneath the hammer slidably mounted thereon.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 762,874 6/04Black 173-124 1,957,999 5/34 Goldsborough et al. 17343 2,134,989 11/38Templeton 17387 2,616,267 11/5'2 Guild 173-87 2,998,856 9/61 Larsen etal. 17343 BROUGHTON G. DURHAM, Primary Examiner.

6. PILE DRIVING APPARATUS COMPRISING A VERTICAL SUPPORT, AN UPPER MOUNTING PLATE SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT, A LOWER MOUNTING PLATE SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT, MEANS CARRIED BY THE SUPPORT FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY RAISING AND LOWERING SAID MOUNTING PLATES AND HOLDING THEM AT A DESIRED LEVEL, AN ELONGATED HAMMBER GUIDE, FIRST MEANS HINGEDLY CONNECTING AN UPPER END OF SAID GUIDE TO THE UPPER MOUNTING PLATE FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM THE SUPPORT, SECCOND MEANS HINGEDLY CONNNECTING THE LOWER MOUNTING PLATE TO THE HAMMER BEING ADJACENT A LOWER END THEREOF, SAID SECOND MEANS BEING ADAPTED TO MOVE THE HAMMER GUIDE TOWARDS AND AWAY FORM THE SUPPORT, AND MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID SECOND MEANS FOR OPERATING SAID SECOND MEANS SELECTIVELY TO MOVE THE HAMMER GUIDE TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM THE SUPPORT. 